Animated wheeled pull toys



Aug. 23, 1966 cs H. ALLEN ANIMATED WHEELED PULL TOYS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 12, 1964 INVENTOR. Gifford H. Allen ATTORNEY Aug. 23, 1966 G. H. ALLEN ANIMATED WHEELED PULL TOYS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 12, 1.965

INVENTOR. Gifford H. Allen ATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,267,605 ANIMATED WHEELED PULL TOYS Gifford H. Allen, Hotchkiss, Colo. Filed Oct. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 403,300 2 Claims. (CI. 46-99) This invention relates to an animated pull toy for children which will simulate the sounds, antics and appearance of an animal, bird or fowl when drawn across the floor by means of a pull string.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple and economical construction for the toy having a trouble free actuating means for producing body movements and sounds in the toy as it is drawn forwardly.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a substantially full size side elevational view of the animated pull toy in an erect position;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the toy:

FIG. 3 is a vertical, longitudinal section therethrougb, taken on the line 33, FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is afragmentary cross sectional view, taken on the line 44, FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view, taken on the line 55, FIG. 1.

The toy, as illustrated, is formed from wood. It could, however, be formed from molded plastic or other suitable material. It comprises a rectangular body block 12 having a longitudinal groove 13 in its top in which a fiat figure block 14 is permanently inset. The figure block is cut out or molded to simulate the outline of any desired figure; as illustrated, it has the outline of and surface ornament of a chicken with his lower beak projecting forwardly, as indicated at 15, as an integral part of the upper extremity of the figure block 14.

A three-piece head assembly is mounted on the upper extremity of the figure block 14. The head assembly consists of a medial head block 16 to each side of which a cheek block 17 is permanently secured. The cheek blocks 17 extend downwardly upon each side of the upper extremity of the figure block and are tiltably and eccentrically mounted thereon upon a pivot pin 18. The pivot pin 18 is forced through the cheek blocks and rotates freely in a pivot hole 19 in the figure block so that the head block can tilt freely back and forth. The head block is formed with a forwardly projecting upper beak 20, which rests upon :the lower beak 15 when the figure block is in the erect position of FIG. 1. The head block is substantially balanced on the pivot pin 18 so that it will fall forwardly and rearwardly when tilted forwardly and rearwardly, respectively, of the pivot pin 18. In other words, it is top-heavy. The check blocks 17 are formed with counterbalance projections 33 which, together with the top-heavy block 16, tend to urge the upper beak downwardly against the lower beak 15 when the figure block 14 is brought to the vertical position.

The body block is formed with a longitudinally extending bottom cavity 21 extending the full length of the block 12. The forward extremity of the cavity is closed by a rectangular plug 22 cemented therein and projecting forwardly therefrom. An eyelet 31 is threaded into the forward face of the plug 22 to which a drawstring 32 is attached. The sides of the cavity 21 are cut back at 3,267,605 Patented August 23, 1966 the bottoms to form longitudinal, downwardly facing shoulders 23 along each side of the cavity. The body block is supported at its forward extremity upon two wheels 24 which are rotatably mounted upon opposite sides of the body block, upon headed nails 25 driven into the block, and is supported at its rear extremity upon an eccentrically-mounted actuating wheel 26, of smaller diameter than the wheels 24, positioned in the rear of the cavity 21. The actuating wheel 26 is rotatably mounted on an axle pin 27 extending between the two sides of the cavity 21 and extending eccentrically through the actuating wheel 26. The rim of the latter wheel is provided with a fiat side 28, extending at an approximate right angle to the shortest radius of the wheel, and with a plurality of clicker teeth 29, positioned substantially diametrically opposite the flat side 28. An elongated, stifily flexible reed 30 is fixedly secured at its forward extremity against the horizontal bottom of the plug 22 and extends rearwardly in the cavity 21, beneath the shoulders 23 to a position to be contacted by the clicker teeth 29 as the actuating wheel 26 rotates forwardly. As each successive clicker tooth 29 engages the extremity of the reed 30, it flexes the reed downwardly until the reed 30 slips from the engaged tooth and snaps upwardly against the shoulders 23 to make a relatively loud clicking sound.

Let us assume that the toy is drawn forwardly from the position of FIG. 1 by the drawstring 32. The actuating wheel will rotate forwardly but, due to its eccentric mounting, will not be in contact with the reed 30 so that the toy will betemporarily quiet until the flat side 28 reaches the bottom position. When this occurs, the rear of the body block 12 will drop to rapidly swing the upper extremity of the figure block 14 rearwardly. This sudden rapid movement and sudden stop swings the top-heavy head block 16 rearwardly about the pivot pin 18 until it contacts the body block, as indicated in FIG. 3. The sudden stop of the rearward mo tion of the body block causes the upper beak 20 to rise from the lower beak 15 to give a mouth-opening effect which is immediately followed by the clicking or quacking sound produced by the reed 30 riding over the teeth 29. The eccentricity of the actuating wheel now raises the rear extremity of the body block and the head block 16 rebounds from the contact 36 and returns forwardly by gravity to the position of FIG. 1. The above cycle of events then repeats as long as the toy is drawn over a supporting surface.

The body block, the head block, and the cheek blocks may have any suitable surface ornamentation to illustrate the particular figure the toy represents, such as, the representation of eyes on the cheek blocks and wings 34 on the figure block as illustrated in the accompanying drawing. The surface lining in FIG. 1 indicates the colors red and black.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An animated pull toy comprising: a body block; concentrically mounted front wheel supporting the forward extremity of said body block; an eccentrically mounted rear wheel supporting the rear extremity of said body block; a figure block fixedly mounted on and arising from said body block; a lower beak projecting forwardly from the upper extremity of said figure block; a head block pivotally mounted on the upper extremity of said figure block so that it may tilt forwardly and backwardly; an upper beak mounted on said head block and 3 projecting forwardly above and in alignment with said lower back and adapted to contact the latter when said figure block moves forwardly and to swing upwardly from said lower beak when said figure block is tilted rearwardly in consequence of the eccentric mounting of said rear wheel; a flat side on said rear wheel adjacent the point of least diameter of the latter to accentuate the descent and ascent of the rear extremity of said body block as said toy moves forwardly to cause said upper beak to rapidly close against and open away from said lower beak; a plurality of clicker teeth on the circumference of said rear wheel at the point of greatest radius; an elongated reed secured at one extremity in said body block and positioned at its other extremity to be contacted by said clicker teeth when said point of greatest radius is in alignment with said reed to produce a quacking sound following each opening of said upper beak; a cheek block on each side of said head block extending downwardly on each side of and overlapping said figure block; a pivot pin extending through said figure block and through the overlapping cheek blocks to form the pivotal mounting of said head block; and counter-balance means extending forwardly from said check blocks to cause an over-balance in said head block when said figure block moves forwardly to cause said upper beak to close against said lower beak.

2. An animated pull toy comprising: a body block; concentrically mounted front wheels supporting the forward extremity of said body block; a rear wheel supporting the rear extremity of said body block; a figure block fixedly mounted on and arising from said body block; a lower beak projecting forwardly from the upper extremity of said figure block; a head block pivotally mounted on the upper extremity of said figure block so that it may tilt forwardly and backwardly; an upper beak mounted on said head block and projecting forwardly above and in alignment with said lower beak and adapted to contact the latter when said figure block moves forwardly and to swing upwardly from said lower beak when said figure block is tilted rearwardly; a fiat side on said rear wheel adjacent the point of least diameter of the latter to accentuate the descent and ascent of the rear extremity of said body block as said toy moves forwardly to cause References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,331,948 2/1920 Wecht 461l2 1,882,595 10/1932 Hewitt 46-104 2,055,848 9/1936 Marx 4699 2,240,439 4/1941 Fisher 46-99 2,942,376 6/1960 Short 46104 2,996,836 8/1961 Tieri 46-104 RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS I. BOVASSO, Assistant Examiner. 

